Requiem
by LadyBarlow
Summary: Maybe a one shot, maybe not. My take on what will happpen in the run up to the 4 month break. Please read. LONG LIVE THE CARTER.


_**Howdy all. Here is a new story for you. Its going to include updates as the end of carter on our screens becomes nigh. They might not go in order, it depends how I feel. It might end up being just a one shot. Anyway enjoy and please R and R. The characters belong to Corrie, not me! LONG LIVE CARTER!**_

She looked towards the door of her apartment. She could still smell him as the flashback vision melted before her. She wiped away another tear and looked towards her kitchen side. Inside the carrier bag was the one other thing that could take away the pain. It would allow her to forget the hurt she had caused and,in turn, the hurt that she felt herself. The urge to get off the sofa and sink the bottle of vodka was becoming increasingly hard to resist. Her knuckles were white from squeezing the soft upholstery, as she tried to physically push the urge out of her system. She couldn't do it. It was the alcohol that had gotten her into this mess in the first place. She never meant for anybody to get hurt. She had purchased the wine that day to act as her painkiller, to help drown out the migraine that had become her and peter's life. It was only there in case the migraine became unbearable, she never meant for anybody but herself to get hurt by it. She picked up a cushion and threw it across the room in frustration at her stupidity. She could still feel Simon's fragile little body across her lap. He had drunk the wine because she had selfishly crushed his entire life, she had taken everything he loved and needed, chewed it up and spat it out. Another tear fell from her cheek as her phone lit up.

**Hi. We need to talk. Can you meet me by the canal by yours? Im nearby, but I have Simon asleep in the car and I don't want to disturb him. Please. P **

Carla shook her head. If only Peter had taken some responsibility and let Leanne have joint custody of Simon, everything would have been ok. Her relationship with Peter was destructive to say the least and Leanne provided some stability for the young boy. Carla didn't have much experience with children, but having been one herself, she understood how important stability was to a child. She saw things from Simon's point of view and it was time to do something about it. She heavily typed the letters into her touch screen phone;

**Yes we do. Im on my way. **

When she arrived at the canal she could see Peter leant against one of the posts, a cloud of smoke hung over his head like a storm awaiting to erupt. She glanced to the side of him and saw the silver Mondeo in the background where Simon would be sleeping. She shook her head and took several careful steps towards Peter before stopping in front him.

"_You alright?" _Peter said awkwardly as he turned to face her. It was obvious from her glazed, puffy eyes that she was the opposite of alright.

"_Oh top of the world me baby and how are you?" _He flicked his cigarette away in frustration and stood up right.

"_Look Carla, there's no point in us standing here arguing, it's not going to get us anywhere." _He said with a hint of frustration.

"_This coming from the king of reasonable behaviour." _She replied cockily. Peter's eyes went darker, the darkness of his brown eyes seemed to melt into the blackness of his pupils. This usually meant he was getting angry and she swallowed hard as she awaited his response.

"_Oh and that attitudes helping us isn't it? Ive just had my son try and drink a bottle of YOUR wine that YOU brought in to an ALCOHOLICS house, so don't talk to me about reasonable flamin behaviour" _He said angrily as he forced his hands into his pocket and lit another cigarette. As he took a drag of his cigarette, the small orange light lit up part of carla's face and he could see how his words had stung her. Her eyes began to glaze over, as he saw the familiar sight of his girl trying to force back her tears.

"_IVE SAID IM SORRY! IM SORRY! THIS WHOLE MESS IS MY FAULT!" _She yelled back at him as her voice began to break._ "I should have stayed away from you. I shouldn't have pursued you and none of this would have happened. He's an 8 year old boy Peter, he needs stability, he needs his mum!" _

"_And what would you know about parenting ey? Hes my son, hes my flesh and blood and he is staying with me, he needs me!" _Peter yelled back at her. He had put his other hand into the pocket of his leather jacket and began to inhale the smoke from his cigarette more rapidly_. _

"_Peter, he needs to go to Leanne. Im sorry ,but neither of us are any good for him right now. Look what we have done to him? Look what hes become?" C_arla adopted a softer tone as she tried to reason with Peter, she moved closer. There was no reasoning with Peter when he was like this.

"_He was fine until you came along. That's when this all went wrong. What has he become ey? What has he turned into? You don't love him, hes not stupid Carla. All you had to do was love him, we would have been fine but NO! You're Carla Connor incapable of any sort of normal life."_ Peter flicked his cigarette and walked towards Carla, his voice raised. Carla's tears were now free flowing and she was unable to stop them. Peter hadn't seen her hurt this much since Frank. She looked at him through her tears. She knew what she had to do. As much as her heart needed peter, however desperate she had become, this had to stop. She turned her back on Peter and began walking away.

"_Don't turn your back on me Carla." _Peter shouted as Carla's heels clicked on the stones. _"I SAID DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON ME!"_ Peter was angry and was on the verge of losing control.

"_It's over Peter." _Carla uttered flatly. There was no emotion in her voice, it was empty.

"_WHAT? So you're gonna run away. You're gonna leave us after all you have put us through." _He shouted a sense of pleading reflecting in his voice. Peter knew that Carla was not responsible for what had happened, but he wasn't ready to admit to himself that he was the problem. He had started the affair with Carla, He had cheated on Leanne, he was stubborn and refused to listen to any kind of reason when it came to Simon.

"_Its done peter, we're finished." _She held her hand in the air and shook her head. Her tone was still flat. She was tired. Tired of fighting. Tired of loving. Tired of trying.

"_FINE! You know what, you're right. There is a big gaping hole in all this and it needs to be filled again. This could be easily fixed, why didn't I realise before, that's when it went wrong. I don't know why I ever chose you."_ He said nastily as he turned away. She could physically feel the venom from his bite slowly seep into her bloodstream. She had to fight back before his venom overtook her system and broke her entirely. She threw her handbag to the floor and marched back over to him.

"_WHAT? GO BACK TO LEANNE? FOR ONCE IN YOUR SELFISH LIFE WILL YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR FLAMIN SON! I LOVE YOU PETER MORE THAN IVE LOVED ANYONE. BUT I DON'T LOVE WHAT YOU HAVE BECOME. YOU NEED TO TAKE A LONG HARD LOOK AT YOURSELF!" she pointed in his face. "THIS ISN'T ABOUT US ANYMORE SO LETS LOOK AT SIMON FOR A MINUTE EY? HES HAD HIS LIFE TURNED UPSIDE DOWN, HIS DAD CHOOSING EVERYONE OVER HIM. HES LYING, HES STEALING AND NOW HES DRINKING. YOU ASK WHAT HAS HE BECOME? HES BECOME YOU! SO TAKE YOUR SON AND MAKE HIM YOUR PRIORITY BECAUSE HEAVEN FORBID HE SHOULD END UP LIKE THIS!" Carla turned and burst into tears once more. Tears rolled down Peter's cheeks as he moved forwards to try and hold her. He put his arms around her as she struggled away from him. He held her tightly in his tattoed arms as he felt her small frame wriggle beneath him. "GET OFF ME" she cried as he clutched on to the last thing in his life that loved him. She managed to struggle away from him. _

"_Please, I love you"_ He called after her_ "I need you" _She wiped her eyes and carried on walking away from him. It was for the best for him and, more importantly, for Simon. She concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. All her fight was gone, the venom had over taken her and it was time to let go.

"_WAIT! Don't go! Please! Carla!" _She heard a little voice calling behind her. She stopped but didn't turn around. She heard little footsteps running behind her.

"_SI! SIMON!"_ She heard Peter yell so she slowly turned around. She wiped the tears from her face so she could see the small boy, his curls bouncing as he ran up the tow path towards her.

"_Your dad is shoutin Si go back to the car its freezing out here." _She said softly.

"_NO I don't want to go back with him. Please don't leave me with him." _Simon shouted back breathlessly still trying to catch up with Carla.

"_He's your dad darlin, go on, you will catch cold. He loves you Si, he needs you." _She sniffled back at the young boy_. _

"_I just want my mum. I'm sorry I was horrible to you and did those stupid things. I just want to live with my mum. Don't cry" _He said as he stopped by her side and hugged her. For a brief second Carla melted as she had finally managed to get the lad to show her some compassion. She hugged him back as she felt his tiny arms around her becoming her fortress. She needed to be strong for him, so she took a deep breath and bent to his level.

"_Listen Si, I know it's hard, but you need to go back with your dad. He's going to look after you now and it will just be the two of you, no more witch!" _**She winked as she tweeked his nose.**

"_I want my mum I don't want him. I don't want you to be sad." _Simon was clearly becoming more distressed as he clung to the sleeves of Carla's leather jacket. Peter had jogged over towards them but was standing back to give them space. He called out to Simon,

"_Come on son, come with me. Let Carla go."_ He said softly.

"_NO!" Simon shouted as he clung tightly to Carla's side, "I'm sorry I did those things. I drank that wine because I hate my life, not because I hate you."_ Peterput his hand to his mouth and gagged. Carla just wanted to reach over to Peter and take him in her arms. Hold him like she had done the first night that Peter had declared his love for her. But this was no longer about them, it was about Simon. She looked towards Peter as her eyes filled up once more. She watched him physically break before her, the colour drained out of his face, his eyes narrowed as his soul spilled out of them.

"_Go on" _he uttered to Carla with a shaky voice.

"_You sure?" _She replied. He nodded flatly. Carla bent down to Simon's level once more and took hold of his arms.

"_I tell ya what. How about I take you back to my house and give your mum a ring to come and pick you up. I'll even throw in some choccy biscuits and I promise I won't cook. Then ya dad can pick you up in the morning and you can have a good talk." _The young boys face lit up and his eyes sparkled.

"_Yes please." _He smiled. Peter took another step back as his hand went onto his chest. Simon looked towards his dad to get reassurance_._

"_Go on son." _He managed to say.

"_Thanks." _Simon said as he took hold of Carla's hand and they began walking with their backs to Peter along the tow path. Simon turned back to Peter.

"_I'm sorry dad." _He shouted and waved at him. Peter managed to lift his lifeless arm to wave back as he watched the two most important things in his life walk right out of it. He was alone. He had nothing left. Carla was his life, and he had smashed it all to pieces. Normally, she would be the one who would help to put his pieces back together and make him whole again. Who would do it now? He needed his crutch and she was gone. He turned away and went for the only familiar thing he had left. It was the only constant that remained, so he headed towards the light in the foreground, the light that came from the nearest off licence.


End file.
